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A Reconstruction Toolkit for Multichannel CT (RT-MCT)

Conventional X-ray Computed Tomographic (CT) imaging is mostly stuck in a black and white (single channel) era, just as it was with the first image Röntgen captured in 1895! However, technological breakthroughs in energy-sensitive detectors and time-of-flight technologies enable a new era of tomographic imaging in 'colours' (multiple channels) [1]. Hundreds or thousands of energy channels can be acquired simultaneously, leading to chemical tomography extracting materials linked to their unique k-edge signatures. This delivers a significant advantage over single-channel (grey-scale) imaging but also poses great challenges for multispectral image reconstruction.

Current software only allows us to reconstruct each channel independently which is a significant limitation since the energy channels are mutually correlated, just like the red-green-blue (RGB) channels of a colour image. Therefore, noise and other inaccuracies in spectral measurements should be treated holistically across the spectral domain, leading to massive improvements in imaging quality (higher signal-to-noise ratio and resolution).

The new CCPi Flagship project: A Reconstruction Toolkit for Multichannel CT (RT-MCT) aims to deliver the set of novel methods and software tools, which are specifically designed to extract maximum information across the spectral dimension within an open source framework. Three major imaging facilities are key collaborators and committed initial users of the RT-MCT: 1) Manchester X-ray Imaging Facility; 2) Neutron Imaging and Diffraction Facility (IMAT) at the ISIS; and 3) Diamond Light Source.